Impregnated salt tablet



N. Original 1954, Se No. 198,037, November 28 24,090 a r IMPREGNATED SALT mam Honce Diamond, Chicago, 111., amlgnor to Morton SaltCompany,Chlcago,lll.,acorpontlonofllllnoh- No. 2,665,236, dated ham i950. Application for reissue November 3, 1954, Serial No. 466,706

3 Claims. (Cl. 167-82 I Matter enclosed inheavy bracket: [lappears In the orlghal patent but fornu no part of'this reissue specification; matter printed In italics Indicates the additions madebyreissue.

My invention is concerned with a new and improved medicinal non-friable tablet of dense sodium chloride impregnated with. a skeletonal membranous structure to delay its rate of absorption by the human gastrointestinal tract. In particular my invention relates to salt in tablet form, the granular particles of which are coated with membranous films of an edible, normally solid waxy material to bring about a desired retarding of the tablets dissolution time and the method for preparing the same.

It is now a familiar practice for humans to consume salt, especially in tablet form, to avert the ill effects of excessive heat and perspiring. This practice is most general among industrial workers, especially those in the steel or hke industries, and was endorsed with approval as a general beneficial practice for members of our Armed Forces during World War II. Experience has proven, however, that salt tablets formed without a deterring agent of some type dissolve so rapidly within the human stomach as to lead to violent nausea, apigastric discomfort and vomiting, causing greater than the heat effects which they are designed to combat. Various suggestions have been made for combating these'ill effects, but the most promising solution to date appears to lie in attempting to retard the rate of absorption or dissolution of the salt tablets whereby the human gastro-intestinal tract has an opportunity to acclimate itself to the introduction of the salt.

Accordingly, I have discovered that the impregnation of a salt tablet with refinededible, normally solid waxy material for example, paraffin, beeswax, stearic acid and the like greatly increases the dissolution time thereof to the end that the expected ill effects of the salt, when introduced to the human gastro-intestinal tract are largely avoided.

It is the main objectof my invention to disclose a treatment for retarding the dissolution time and thus the rate of absorption of salt tablets introduced to the human gastro-intestinal tract thereby preventing nausea and irritation of the stomach and related parts of the digestive system.

It is another object of my invention to demonstrate a new and improved sodium chloride tablet, impregnated with parafiin or a like edible waxy material, that is adapted for human consumption for the purpose of avoiding the ill effects of heat exhaustion or the like.

The above objects and further desirablefeatures of my tablet will be recognized by one skilled in the art from'the following detailed description and specifications.

In order to accomplish the desired features set forth above, I prefer to form dense non-friable sodium chloride or salt tablets by a known punching method in a suitable tableting machine under formation pressures ranging from v 5 tons per square inchto tons per square inch. The

Reissued Ne s, 1955 Scum Stu I In carrying out my invention I further prefer the tablets I made from the above grade of salt and punched out under the above formation pressures in a conventional tabletive machine, to' beof a size commercially used in present dispensing machines (i. e. diameter inch,'thickness 0.20 inch, weight l0.t0.5 grains). I introduce tablets of character to a dipping bath of molten, edible, normally solid waxy material, such as refined parafiin, beeswax, stearic acid or other materials of a like nature. Byway of illustration, I shall hereinafter describe a preferred. 7 manner of forming my tablet, which is completelysatisfactory and wherein the dipping bath to which the tablets are introduced consists of refined, molten p'arafin of food grade purity having smelting point ranging from 122' to 124 F., although other paraffins having different melting ranges are available which are equally satisfactory for this purpose. The dipping time in this bath may vary'from 10 to 60 seconds with an average time of'20 seconds being preferred; an increase in dipping time over 2 seconds ap .pearing to have little effect on the parafiin' penetration and dissolution time of my tablet. The eflects of the parafiin penetration are variable according to whether the tablet is punched hard or soft. Formation pressures in the-neighborhood of 5 tons/sq. in. produce a sof tablet while pressures of 10 tons/sq. in. produce a hard tablet. In general thenharder the tablet the less parafiu impregnates the tablet and the less paralfin'impregnation the shorter the disintegration time. Additional variation of the paraflin pentration and impregnation may be obtained by varying the heat of the tablet at the time of dipresults, the following comparative table of parafin skelesalt may vary in its refined quality, but I have found a salt ton weights maybe taken as typical of the relative effects of hardness and dipping temperatures on the impregnation with parafiin a 10 grain tablet of herein. In this table "hot" refers to tablet dipping temperatures of approximately 100' F. while cold refers to normal room temperature. Dipping time is the same for all tablets listed. v

according to conventional practice.

The treatment of the salt tablet in this manner has a I marked effect on its dissolution or disintegration time in water, tending to lengthen this test time over that of an untreated salt tablet. This effect is largely due to a skeletonal impregnating penetration of the tablet by the molten ,parafin whereby an internal honeycomb structure is formed; the separated cells of which encase small individual pockets of salt. [In the presence oLstbmach liquids or other digestive juices of the'human digestive system it appears that the paraflin coated or cellularly separated pockets of salt slowly take on liquid and dissolve within their individual cells; the salt liquid thus gained then osmotically leaks out of these cells into the digestive and gastro-intestinal system in liquid form at a much the rate of dissolution of the sodium chloride tablet obtainable with the present invention is substantially less than that obtainable with a dialyzing film of cellulose acetate or cellulose nitrate. After dissolution of the sodium chloride, the residual internal structure passes harmlessly out of the body by the normal elimination processes.

, In determining the total disintegration time of the tablet I have adapted the standard specified by our Federal Government wherein a salt tablet is suspended in a 10 mesh screen at the 80 milliliter mark of a IOOmilliliter graduate cylinder in l00-milliliters of distilled water at 70' F. The time is then noted until the supporting skeletonal structure rises to the surface. This time represents the total disintegration time of the tablet. By this'test, a plain unimpregnatcd salt tablet will disintegrate in approximately nine minutes. Tablets punched "hard and dipped in molten paraflin for 20 seconds under my above described treatment have an average total distintegrating time of approximately 13 minutes while similar "soft" punched tablets dipped for 20 seconds have an average total disintegration time of approximately 73 minutes. In the above disintegration test figures both the "hard" and soft tablet temperature, upon introduction to the paraflin dip, was that of the surrounding room.

Thus it is observed that my impregnated salt tablet is far superior in disintegration characteristics to that of a plain untreated salt tablet and that by my invention a new and improved medicinal salt tablet is provided, completely satisfactory to the user for dispelling the ill elfects of heat exhaustion or the like without causing undue nausea or of the human digestive equivalent ingredients may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. TI'NIOr,

fore, I do not wish to be limited to the specific illustrations and embodiments herein described other than may appear in the following appended [claim] claims.

Iclaim:

I. As a new article of manufacture, a non-friable, internally reinforced tablet comprising substantially 10 grains of refined granular sodium chloride tableted'under formation pressures of from 5-10 tons per square inch, and an internally disposed cellular structure comprising substantially 8-28 milligrams of refined parafli'n, impregnated between and around the grains of the tableted sodium chloride while in a molten state [said internal cellular structure permitting the osmotic dissolution of said sodium chloride therethrough in the presence of human gastrointestinal juices at a rate substantially less than the normal 'rate of dissolution of sodium chloride in such juices], said internal cellular paraflin structure permitting the disillusnoted between and around the grains of the sodium chloride tablet while in a molten state and subsequently solidi- 5 fled, the formation pressure and amount of way subv stance for the tablet being related substantially as for'rnation pressures of from 5-10 tons per square inch and substantially=8-28 milligrams of waxy substance are related for a tablet comprising substantially 10 grains of sodium chloride.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a non-friable, internally reinforced tablet comprising grains of refined granue. larsodium chloride tableted under formation pressure into squa're'irich and substantially 8-28 milligrams of waxy 0 substance are related for a tablet comprising substantially 10 grains of sodium chloride, said intern'al cellular paraffin structure permitting dissolution of said sodium chloride in the stomach at a rate substantially less than the normal rate ofdissolution of sodium chloride in the stomach.

: References Cited in the file' of this patent or the original patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 60 1,498,666 Mason, June 24, 1924 2,011,587 Miller Aug. 20, 1935 2,373,763 Kuever Apr. l7, 1945 2,478,182 Consolan'o Aug. 9, 1949 2,540,979 Clymer Feb. 6,1951

omen REFERENCES Jour. Amer. Pharm. Assn.-, Pharm. Abs., April 1944, a page 105.

sion of said sodium chloride therethrough in the presence 

